Thanee's Ultra Modern / no Base Classes

[DrSpunj]

Any idea on Defense and Reputation?

With the above (1st post) being fairly balanced, they don't figure in well (some classes are just better in both, while the rest adds up to 8 CP).

Maybe BAB/HD must be higher in cost (it seems Strong and Tough are especially bad with Defense and Reputation)?

I ended up increasing BAB quite a bit for my D&D sheets. Everyone gets what a Commoner gets for free. You spend CPs over and above that to become heroic!

So +1 BAB every other level is free. For a +1 BAB at odd levels it costs 4 CPs.

+1 Defense is free every third level (3, 6, 9, etc.) and costs 2 CP for a +1 at any other time. (Max +2 at 1st level, no more than +1 total at all later levels, so maximum of +21 is possible at 20th).

d6 is free, to upgrade to d8/d10/d12 costs 1/2/3 CPs.

4 SPs is free, to upgrade to 6/8/10 costs 1/2/3 CPs.

A +1 to any save (not all saves) is free at all 20 levels. More than that is 1 CP for each +1, max of +2 at first level and no more than +1 for each save at all later levels.

Only Basic Weapon Profs are free, and no Armor/Shield Profs. At 1st level it costs 1 CP to be proficient with Simple Weapons then 1 more for each additional Martial Weapon Group or Exotic Weapon Group (per UA variant, mostly). Same with Armor, 1 CP for Lt/Med/Hvy/Exotic Armor &/or Shields. At all later levels these Proficiency Groups must be learned/acquired as General Feats so they cost 3 CP.

Feat/Talent/Ability costs vary by type:
* 5 CPs for a Base feat/ability: Rage, Wildshape, Sneak Attack, etc.
* 4 CPs for an Expansion feat/ability that just adds something to what you already know/have: Rage/Wildshape extra times per day, Tireless Rage, Wildshape-Large, Sneak Attack with more dice, etc.
* 3 CPs for a General/Non-combat feat/ability: Nature Sense, Skill Focus, Track, etc.

Magic ability comes in two flavors and is based upon Monte's AU Mage Blade (Basic Magic) and Magister (Advanced Magic) tables. The former is 4 CPs, the latter 7 CPs.

With these costs I ended up using more CPs than you've listed. Every PC gets 24 CPs at 1st level and 11 CPs for levels 2-20.

Reputation I'm not sold on yet. It's an interesting concept, as is the Wealth system of d20 Modern, but I don't think I'm going to be adopting them for my D&D/AU campaign so I didn't figure them in.

DrSpunj

 

[Thanee]

Create three basic characters. ...

This leads to similar restrictions (BAB tied to feat selections tied to skill points, etc).

You couldn't make a fast character who is a good fighter (high BAB), for example.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

With these costs I ended up using more CPs than you've listed.

Yeah, of course. The 8 CP is only for the stuff that has a cost so far and would have to be increased accordingly with the inclusion of new stuff.

Thanks!

Bye
Thanee

 

[doghead]

I've done a few more examples in my other thread. While 8CP per level was tight, surprisingly, if you keep it focused the characters are capable enough to be quite interesting, but lean. For an anime influenced game, I don't think that thats a bad outcome.

I thought about a couple of options to make it more 'realistic' ie - new skills cost (new level - 1 with a minimum of one per rank. At second level you can still pick up new skills without penalty, but at third it costs 2 SP to buy your first rank. At 4th it costs 3 SP. Old dogs and new tricks and all that. But in the end I decided that it just made buying skills even more imperative at first level, while discouraging characters to grow in new directions. A complication for its own sake more than anything. So I dumped it.

The only change I am considering is using 9 CP per level, and giving all characters a starting bonus 'core' feat (no class feats/abilities). Humans would still get their bonus feat (also 'core' only).

the head of the dog.

 

[doghead]

An aside ... Armour Prof (Medium) is a progression feat, building on Armour Prof (Light). Archaic Weapon Prof, Exotic Melee Weapon Prof & Personal Firearms Proficiency are entry feats, having no prereq feats. Archaic and Personal Firearms gives you prof with a a range of weapons, Exotic gives you prof with one weapon. Advanced Firearms is a progression feat, building on Personal Firearms prof, and allows you to use autofire. Exotic Firearms is a progression, building on Advanced Firearms and giving you prof with a type of weapon (inc one shot RPG's). What a mess.